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Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Haiti - A Quick Look

I think most people wonder just how Haiti became Haiti. I
know I always did. I just finished reading “The Great Divide” by Thomas
Fleming. It will be next week’s review. But since I can’t cover every aspect of that
book in a review, I thought I’d share a bit of the history of just how Haiti
became; well, Haiti. As a nation, the United States had more than a little to
do with it, which is why it was included in a book about American history.

In 1789 as the French were having their revolution in the wake
of our own, the people living in Haiti- at that time a part of the island
called Dominique; today’s Dominican Republic; had a revolution of their own.

By 1804, while the French were fighting all over Europe; and
even as far away as Egypt; in Napoleon’s bid for world conquest, a black man
named Toussaint Louverture took power. He created a multi-ethnic government
which was supported by the American President John Adams. Adams saw the wisdom
of having the island as a sort of early warning system should a European power
entertain the idea of invading our shores. To aid the new government he
supplied them with weapons and food, as well as establishing trade between our
2 new countries.

By 1805 the Presidency had changed hands and Thomas
Jefferson was President. He immediately stopped the aid to the island nation
and instead began to supply the French, who intended to retake the island.

Within a year the last man standing as far as military
action goes, was Jacques Dessalines. He immediately ripped the white stripe from
the French tri-color and used the remaining blue and red ones as the first flag
of a new nation called Haiti. He then marched across the western portion of the
island and killed every Frenchman he could find; including women and children.

There have been other governments since then; and the
Dominican Republic sits just across an imaginary line in the island’s sandy
terrain. But Haiti has remained an enigma ever since, mired in ancient
superstitions and poverty that never seems to respond to whatever aid is sent
its way.

There is no tangible reason which would justify the
existence of Haiti as the poorest country in our hemisphere, if not the world,
over 200 years since the events described above. Haiti’s poverty continues with no end in
sight. You have to wonder just who is the benefactor of that continued misery.